Review "Judge" volume 1 of Yoshiki TANOGAI: A Machiavellian thriller!

Judge is a six-volume manga series written by Yoshiki Tonogai. Series of the thriller genre, its first part published in 2012, left some readers speechless! Here we explain why. Synopsis: After indirectly causing the death of his own brother, Hiro lives consumed by remorse. Two years have passed when he suddenly wakes up in the dark, handcuffed and wearing a mysterious rabbit mask. At the end of a corridor is the lifeless body of a teenager and seven other terrified people, locked in a strange courtroom. But none of them are really innocent… Guilty of a crime that has gone unpunished, all embody one of the deadly sins: gluttony, avarice, laziness, pride, lust, envy and anger. The trial can begin. Both judges and executioners, they will have to choose every twelve hours which of them will be sacrificed. We quickly discover the genre of manga from the first page. The first scene reveals an unknown character and blood. These two color pages put the reader directly into the horror universe of Yoshiki TONOGAI. The first chapter of Judge shows how our main character Hiro will end up in this court. It is noted that he actually committed one of the seven deadly sins by indirectly killing his brother. He has indeed postponed his brother's appointment to announce his feelings to his own brother's girlfriend, who is also their childhood friend. It was during an accident that his brother lost his life forever. Two years later, Hiro finds himself in an extraordinary courtroom. A strange tape, a chrono, animal masks and no way out… Here are all the characters stuck in this creepy place with a victim already dead. After Hiro wakes up quite surprising (handcuffed with a mysterious rabbit mask on his head), he realizes that he is not the only prisoner. We later discover the faces of the other people with him and their characters. Some will try to be sociable, others will not. But what's the point of trying to make friendships when death follows them so closely? This is only the first volume but the action is already present and the situation is set up very quickly. More precisely, it is in chapter two that everything begins. Similarly, if Hiro remains a fairly basic character, with very few characteristics that can for the moment differentiate him from other young adults, the suspense remains very present. The author does not give any clue as to who is the master of the game, who may have locked up these individuals. The author of this manga builds, as in these other works, a dark and mysterious atmosphere. We also find the animal masks present in his other manga, recurring accessory and true trademark of the author. It is thus possible, at the mere sight of the cover, to identify one of his works. You can check out the trailer here. Between betrayal, secrets and fear of dying, Judge reserves us a suspense that makes us want to read the rest of this very catchy manga. Yoshiki TONOGAI recently released a manga of the same type called Dead Company.